Providing Help and Hope for Displaced Families in Northwest Pakistan

A few of the children that are receiving our lifesaving services in Pakistan. Credit: A. Saboor

In Pakistan, over one million Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are fleeing violence in North Waziristan to find refuge in neighboring provinces. Action Against Hunger is working to welcome displaced families and ensure they get the resources they need to start a new life.

Fasmar’s family starts over

For IDPs, memories of home are kept close to the heart. “Living in our motherland is like living in a land of flowers,” says Fasmar, a 35-year-old father who was forced to flee from his home. Fasmar is one of over one million IDPs that have fled due to ongoing conflict and now reside in the neighboring provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab.

Like so many from their village, Fasmar and his family couldn’t take much more than the clothes on their backs when they left. They walked for three days in the summer heat with nothing but a few packs of cookies for the children. The journey left their children and elderly relatives ill and in need of help.

Supporting Najama’s family

When Najama arrived with her six children, she came with little money and is now struggling to pay for rent, food and medicine. In an overcrowded house with 32 family members, resources are scarce and keeping the children healthy is challenging.

We registered Najama for our cash assistance program. This money will help her pay for food and other urgent needs, and ultimately give her the tools she needs to keep her family safe and healthy. Najama will also attend trainings on health and nutrition basics so that she can play a key leadership role in her family’s health.

"Action Against Hunger is one of the first to help us. Knowing that they will support us gives us hope and courage because they are standing with us in such dark times."

-Najama, IDP and cash grant recipient, from North Waziristan

Food supplies can run low during large-scale displacement situations. Our cash assistance program is vital in making sure that families can access food during these turbulent times. Food security will help keep families, especially children, healthy in the coming months.

Helping Khadija regain her health

Displaced children are at great risk for malnutrition. Twelve-month-old Khadija was brought to our nutrition team because she had lost weight and become ill since her family was forced from their home. Her father now regularly brings her to our nutrition center, where she’s receiving the treatment she needs to gain weight and get healthy again.

Helping Shaman’s family access clean water

Providing families with access to clean drinking water, safe sanitation and hygiene services is a key component of our work. Shaman’s family and five other families share a house with one latrine, no access to clean water and no soap. These conditions have left many of them sick, increasing their risk of malnutrition. We registered Shaman’s family for our water, sanitation and hygiene program. They will receive a hygiene kit containing materials they need to stay clean and healthy, and attend trainings on how to best improve their current hygiene conditions.

Assisting families in need

Although they may no longer be living in “a land of flowers” as Fasmar described it, these families are finally safe from conflict. Starting anew is difficult, starting anew with nothing can be next to impossible. We’ve been working in Pakistan since 2005, providing critical support to families just like these. We will continue to work diligently to transform their refuge into a safe environment and provide the lifesaving services they need.